Armenian envoy: Peace an option if Baku ends atmosphere of impunity

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia's ambassador to the Netherlands Tigran Balayan believes that true reconciliation and peaceful coexistence between Armenians and Azerbaijanis will only be possible with the elimination of Armenophobia and the atmosphere of impunity in Azeri President Ilham Aliyev's regime.

In an article published on Nederlands Dagblad newspaper to mark the first anniversary of the end of Azerbaijani-Turkish aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh, Babayan said that no no independent investigation into Azerbaijan's war crimes has been carried out to date.

"Unfortunately, the European Union in general and the Netherlands in particular didn't act sufficiently to prevent this tragedy and address its consequences including sanctioning those responsible for the atrocities until they are held accountable," Babayan wrote.

"After the Trilateral statement on ceasefire, the corrupt and authoritarian Aliyev regime of Azerbaijan, inspired by the impunity and double standard approach, refuses to fulfill its commitments by periodically violating the ceasefire regime and shelling civilian settlements, invading Armenia, continuously erasing centuries-old Armenian heritage on the territories it currently occupies, dehumanizing Armenians through racist statements, rejecting to repatriate about many dozens Armenian PoWs. Amidst all these challenges Armenia held another free and transparent elections in June, and the Government declared the establishment of regional peace and cooperation as Armenia’s strategic goal."

The ambassador said the Armenian side fully realizes that the path is very difficult and long, and the prerequisite is the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, "which will lead to a new era in the region and beyond."

"We believe that the use of force and its consequences cannot be interpreted as a way to reconciliation. On the contrary, this is a very dangerous manner of thinking," he said.

"Our approach is supported by all our international partners, however, Azerbaijan’s territorial claims against Armenia, its state-sponsored policy (documented by the Council of Europe) of Armenophobia are contrary to the expectations of our partners, including the Netherlands and the European Union and most importantly, those are hampering the reconciliation and peace process.

"To pave the way for true reconciliation Azerbaijan has to end the decades-long malicious practice of poisoning Azerbaijani generations with Nazi-style propaganda of hatred and animosity against worldwide Armenians. For this purpose my Government has instituted proceedings against Azerbaijan before the International Court of Justice for violations Convention for Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

"I believe that true reconciliation and peaceful coexistence will only be possible with the elimination of the atmosphere of impunity, countering the Aliyev regime’s confidence to continue its Armenophobic actions and when the responsibility takes over the impunity."